7. Two Worlds of Karel Čapek – Mythology and Ordinary
Life                                                                  Lecturer: Miloš Fiala


The lecture will be divided into two parts. The first one will deal not only with the life and work
of Karel Čapek as a whole, but also with the literary context of the period. The second part will
be concerned with an archetypal analysis of a few literary works by Karel Čapek – his short stories
and his trilogy Hordubal, Meteor, Ordinary Life (Hordubal, Povětroň, Obyčejný život).



Recommended reading:


·       Čapek, Karel. Tales from Two Pockets. Translated by Paul Selver. London: George Allen and
Unwin, 1932. 5-14, 135-145.

·       Frazer, James George. The Golden Bough. A Study in Magic and Religion. London: MacMillan &
Co Ltd., 1960. 266-271, 338-342.

·       Čapek, Karel. Three Novels:  Hordubal, Meteor, Ordinary Life. Translated by M. and R.
Weathrall, introduction by William Harkins.  North Haven: Catbird Press, 1990.

·       Ivan Klíma.  Karel Čapek, Life and Work. Translated by Norma Comrada.  North Haven: Catbird
Press, 2002.